SH-Hangzhou Day 5-6: Train to Grand Central Hotel Shanghai, Nanjinglu & Flight Home

DAY 5

I woke up at 6.45am (I'm used to waking up early to prep my kids for school) and we proceeded to Coffee Garden Restaurant for breakfast.

My choice of breakfast 😋

We checked out of our hotel by 10.20am and hailed a DiDi (CN¥15) to the station to catch our train to Shanghai. 

We had booked our tickets via Klook about 2.5 months in advance, with actual tickets confirmed only 15 days prior to travel (same as our train to Hangzhou). There were many routes to choose from but we chose the 12.17pm train, which would take 1 hour 45 minutes and cost S$9.88 per adult. Although the journey was significantly longer, it was the best timing we could find and cost 50% less.

Saying goodbye to Shangri-La Hangzhou!

After approximately 25 minutes, we arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station, which looked much older than Hangzhou East Station. The train we took was also much older!

Waiting at the station for our turn to board our train

A visibly older train

The journey was very smooth

On arrival at Shanghai South Railway Station at 2pm, we hailed a DiDi (CN¥33) to our final accommodation for this trip.

Heading to the ride-hailing pick up point

The journey to Grand Central Hotel Shanghai was about 30 minutes. We liked that it was value-for-money and conveniently located close to the famous Nanjing Pedestrian Street (Nanjinglu), where my family and I had enjoyed shopping previously.

Grand Central Hotel Shanghai

Old school atas vibes

We booked the Deluxe Twin Room at S$186 per room per night. The room and twin beds were super spacious and luxurious!

Love the huge beds and spacious room

Small kitchenette

Wardrobe and office table with the usual amenities

Bathroom had twin sinks and additional toiletries like mouthwash and L'occitane lotion  

Spacious bathtub and separate shower

Hotel facilities

For the level of luxury we experienced, I felt the hotel was worth what we paid! 😁

We walked to Nanjinglu for shopping since we were located just behind Minisoland.

Busy Nanjinglu

Huge racket at the Fila store (left) and Minisoland (right)

We walked down the street to Hongyi Plaza and decided to have a late lunch at Yang's Sheng Jian 小杨生煎.

I spotted the advertisement outside of the mall (left) and looked for the small restaurant at B1

We ordered dumplings, spicy noodles, soup and two servings of their famous shengjian bao because they were soooo good!

Despite ordering a whole table of food and eating until we were too full, the bill was only CN¥85.50 (S$16)! 😄🤩

We were so full that we had to walk it off by heading to the end of the street to see Shanghai's most famous skyline, The Bund!

Selfie with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower

The Bund in the day

Bank of Shanghai and other cool buildings

We were too early for the Bund light up so we continued shopping at Nanjinglu while waiting! When the sun finally set, we headed back to the Bund for the famous night view! 😄

The Bund at night

We were super hungry from all our walking and decided to get beef skewers for supper 🤭

Yummy beef skewers

Spotted this bubble tea shop and decided to satisfy my craving

We found really good butterfly cookies here! 😋

We headed back to our hotel and enjoyed some time in the lounge.

Having a drink in the lounge

View from our hotel room 

I can't believe that it was our last night of the trip! Time flies when you're having fun! 😄😆

DAY 6

The next morning, I woke up at 7am and went for a swim at 8am (while the Twin went to the gym). There was only one other person at the pool so I was able to do laps for half an hour without distractions.

Indoor swimming pool with a comfortable temperature

After our exercise, we headed to Chua Lam's Dim Sum at Yuehui Mosaic mall for breakfast when they opened at 10am. My family loved the food when we first tried it in Guangzhou and though the Twin and I had a little taster at Disney Town, we knew we had to eat a full meal before returning to Singapore!

Chua Lam's Dim Sum at Nanjing Road

We wanted to order so many things on the menu but since it was only 2 of us, we had to prioritise our must-tries! 🤭😋

Sponge cake and prawn dumplings

Their famous pork buns and red rolls! 😋

We were so full and satisfied from our meal! Super happy! 😆

We did some last minute shopping before heading back to check out. Thankfully we managed to get late check-out till 1pm.

It was time to head to Pudong International Airport Terminal 2 via DiDi (cost CN¥134). The journey took close to an hour and we arrived at 2pm. Can't believe that our trip was ending! 😭

Arrival at the airport

Using the self check-in kiosk

After clearing customs, we had a late lunch at Canton 8. We just love Cantonese food! 😄

Canton 8

My favourite Hong Kong milk tea, spicy dumplings and beef soup. So yummy! 😋🤤

Our flight was slightly delayed and departed at 4.40pm.

Our meal on board, including an ice cream!

After flying for 5.5 hours, we arrived in Singapore at 10.15pm. Thank God for an uneventful trip! It's good to be home! 🥰

My Reflections

As a first time visitor to Hangzhou, I really loved the beautiful West Lake! I can honestly see why millions of people flock there every year to experience the culture and see the sights! It's also only a short 1-hour train ride from Shanghai, hence I highly recommend it!

I saw a lot of 老夫老妻 (older married couples) at Westlake, enjoying a nice vacation by themselves. I told the Hubby that we should return without the kids and do the same! 😆 Until next time!

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